The Environment

July 20-21, 2010 Great Lakes Ballast Water Collaborative Meeting in Duluth, Minnesota

On July 20 and July 21, 2010, the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the International Joint Commission co-hosted the third full-scale meeting of the Great Lakes Ballast Water Collaborative (BWC) in Duluth, Minnesota. The meeting allowed the Collaborative to continue detailed discussions initiated at the Detroit and Montreal meetings. The discussion focused particularly on the topics of ballast water testing processes and technology verification procedures. Three BWC working groups also convened.

On July 20, the meeting focused on issues concerning testing and verification of ballast water and ballast water treatment systems. Activities included a site visit to the Great Ships Initiative facility, the only fresh water testing facility in the world, a visit to the Midwest Energy Resources Company terminal in Superior, Wisconsin, and the opportunity to board a “thousand footer” vessel operated by the American Steamship Lines. On July 21, the discussion of testing and verification continued. As with the first two Ballast Water Collaborative meetings, the Duluth/Superior meeting attracted a wide variety of senior representatives and subject-matter experts from multiple stakeholder groups.